The invention pertains to clarinets and more particularly to a moisture trap for such musical instruments.
As is well known to musicians familiar with wind reed instruments the accumulation of moisture during the course of an evening's playing is of a substantial amount.
Numerous arrangements and devices are utilized and available for the accumulation and release of moisture from such musical instruments as the saxaphone, trumpet and trombone and yet considering the great number of years that the clarinet has been one of the more popular musical instruments, the only means by which moisture can escape is to pass through the barrel and body portions and thence outwardly through the flared or bell end of the instrument.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,457,473 shows and describes a water absorbing device for clarinets which is in the form of a sponge that is adapted to assemble in the bell end of a clarinet.
The lack of an effective means to prevent moisture from entering the body portion of a clarinet creates many troublesome and undesirable conditions such for example when moisture enters into this portion of the instrument it saturates the various keys and their pads and has a corrosive effect on the various movable metallic elements.
The build up of moisture, during extended playing, within the body portion of the clarinet has an adverse affect on the quality of the instrument's tone which is especially noticeable to the musician himself and his colleagues. This can be attributed to a minute spray of moisture which is caused to accompany the flow of air passing outwardly through any one of the ports which the musician has selectively opened to play a particular note.
Additionally the accumulation of moisture within a clarinet necessitates an increase in air pressure to properly play the instrument and contributes considerably to the tiring of the musician during the extended playing engagements with which they are frequently involved.
The moisture trap for clarinets comprising the invention has overcome the troublesome and undesirable conditions described above by providing a trap located within the barrel of a clarinet which will prevent moisture from entering the body portion thereof. It also includes means operatively associated with the trap for selectively removing the moisture accumulated therein.